Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

From François Berthout

LCpl 3385 Ivan Feodroff Caesarowicz
50th Australian Infantry Battalion, D Company,
14th Platoon, 13th Brigade, 4th Australian Division
 
Through the peaceful fields of the Somme, in the serene silence is sometimes heard the murmurs of men who, more than a hundred years ago, among the poppies of Pozieres, Amiens and Villers-Bretonneux, fought and fell side by side in the trenches of the great war in which, together, they gave every part of their youth to put an end to all wars and who, united in camaraderie and fraternity, gave their today on the battlefields and on which they endured hell and went bayonet forward under bullets and shells, under the deadly fire of machine guns which mercilessly mowed down all a generation of young boys who rest in peace on the sacred soils of northern France for which they shed their blood alongside their brothers in arms who came from so far away. Gone but not and never forgotten, they still stand proud and tall behind the sacred epitaphs of their white graves which tell us the stories of their lives which I will always keep strong and alive to protect and maintain their memory so that they are never never forgotten and I will always watch over them with the deepest respect so that these heroes, my boys of the Somme live forever.

Today, it is with the utmost respect and the deepest gratitude that I would like to honor the memory of one of these young men, one of my boys of the Somme who gave his today for our tomorrow. I would like to pay a very respectful tribute to Lance Corporal number 3385 Ivan Feodroff Caesarowicz who fought in the 50th Australian Infantry Battalion, D Company, 14th Platoon, 13th Brigade, 4th Australian Division, and who was killed in action 104 years ago, on April 5, 1918 at the age of 34 on the Somme front.

Ivan Feodroff Caesarowicz was born on January 11, 1884 in Adelaide, South Australia, and was the son of Charles Edward Caesarowicz and Charlotte Caesarowicz (née Heusner) of Unley, South Australia. He was educated at Christian Brothers College, Adelaide, then after graduation married Laura Elizabeth Caesarowicz, of 73 Bakewell Road, Evandale, South Australia, and lived together at 104 Napier Terrace,Unley Park, South Australia.Before the outbreak of the war, Ivan served 289 days in the Australian Army Pay Corps and was discharged at own request then worked as a clerk.

At the outbreak of the war, Ivan tried for the first time to enlist in the Australian Imperial Force but was rejected because of sciatica, however he did not give up and succeeded in enlisting on January 4, 1917 in Adelaide, in the 50th Australian Infantry Battalion, 9th Reinforcement, whose nickname was "The Barrier Battalion" and under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Frederick Hurcombe. After a training period of one month, Ivan embarked with his unit from Adelaide, on board HMAT A48 Seang Bee on February 10, 1917, was promoted the same day to the rank of Lance Corporal then sailed for England.

On March 22, 1917, during his sea voyage, Ivan was reverted to the rank of Private and two months later, on May 2, 1917, arrived in England and was disembarked at Devonport then joined the 13th Training Battalion for an intensive four-month training period in Codford and on September 5, proceeded overseas for France.

On September 6, 1917, Ivan arrived in France and was disembarked at Le Havre where he joined the 4th Australian Divisional Base Depot and more than a week later, on September 14, proceeded to join the 50th Battalion, was taken on strength on September 16 on the field in Lugy, Pas-De-Calais, where he followed a period of training, including bayonet fights, physical and sports exercises. On September 20, the battalion moved to Steenvorde then on September 22, marched to Ypres, in the Westhoek sector and relieved the 52nd Australian Infantry Battalion at Westhoek Ridge where an attack was launched on September 26. Two days later, on September 28, the 50th Battalion was relieved by the 45th Australian Infantry Battalion and marched for the rear of Westhoek Ridge where the men were employed in road works, and on September 30 moved to Halifax Camp, near Dickebush.

On October 1, 1917, Ivan and the 50th Battalion left Halifax camp and marched to Steenvoorde where they were billeted in farmhouses and followed rifle drills, attacks in platoon formations. On October 10, the battalion embarked by trains from Abeele and proceeded for Ypres and arrived at Broodseinde Ridge the following day under German artillery fire but held this sector successfully until 19 October and were relieved the same day by the 46th Australian Infantry Battalion and sent to the rear of Ypres where the men were employed in clearing their weapons. The next day the 50th Battalion moved to Cornwall Camp, near Ouderdom, and were frequently bombarded by enemy aircraft but remained there until October 24.The next day they marched to Brandhoek and embarked by train from Arques to Lugy where they arrived on October 26 for reorganization and remained there until November 12.

On November 13, 1917, Ivan and his battalion left Lugy and marched through Laires, Ruisseauville, Wambercourt, Tortefontaine, Fontaine-Sur-Maye, Hautvillers, Franleu and arrived at Meneslies, Somme on November 23 and where they were billeted until December 6.

On December 7, 1917, Ivan and the 50th Battalion marched for Peronne and Etricourt where the men were quartered in tents. Two days later, they marched into billets to Templeux-La-Fosse where they remained until December 18 and joined Moislains on December 19 where Ivan celebrated his last Christmas with his comrades around a good dinner which was brought to all the men from Amiens and from December 26, again followed a training period consisting of trench attacks.

On January 12, 1918, the 50th Battalion marched for Strazeele, Hauts-De-France, and joined Tournai Camp, which the men considered very comfortable despite very bad weather during their stay in this sector which ended on January 18,when Ivan was promoted to the rank of Lance Corporal then marched for the the Ypres front line the following day where they fought until February 27 and the following day joined the Kemmel Shelters where they alternated between periods of rest and training until March 23. Unfortunately, two days earlier, the German army launched its spring offensive, the last German offensive of the war to try to break through the Allied front on the western front and the 50th Battalion was ordered to go to the Somme front on March 27 to stop them.

On March 27, 1918, Ivan and the 50th Australian Infantry Battalion arrived in the Somme, more precisely at Forceville where after learning that the Germans were attacking in the Ancre Valley from Albert towards Dernancourt and Buire, the battalion deployed in columns and marched for Henencourt, near Millencourt, and later the same day entered the front line between Henencourt and Lavieville supported by Australian artillery ready to halt any German assaults. Four days later the 50th Battalion moved slightly to Dernancourt where the Germans attacked on April 1st supported by their artillery but were stopped by the Australian artillery which did not stop firing until nightfall. After very difficult fighting at Dernancourt, Ivan and part of the 50th Battalion were sent to rest in an abandoned aerodrome at Morlancourt, near Albert, where unfortunately, on April 5, 1918, Ivan met his fate and was killed in action by a shell, he was 34 years old.

Ivan's death was reported by Lieutenant J.D. Craven, 50th Australian Infantry Battalion, as follows:
"In the afternoon of about April 5th, 1918,we were in reserves and our company was quartered in the old aerodrome at Morlancourt near Albert, when a high explosive shell hit a girder of one of the hangars about 20 yards from where I was standing, and caused about 50 casualties (10 killed). Caesarowicz was killed outright and was buried with others of the top of a hill close to a little French shrine between the old aerodrome and Lavieville, and about 500 yards from the former. I was present at the burial, the padre of the 13th Brigade officiating.Lieutenant FB McBride, 50th Battalion, AIF, D Company, collected his effects. Caesarowicz belong to D Company, 14th Platoon,and was the only man of that name in the battalion.I think he was called Ivan. He was about 5 feet, freckled, sandy hair and moustache, a tip top man and very good fellow."

Today, Lance Corporal Ivan Feodroff Caesarowicz rests in peace alongside his friends, comrades and brothers in arms at the Ribemont Communal Cemetery Extension, Somme, and his grave bears the following inscription: "Loved in death as you were in life by sorrowing wife and relatives."
Ivan, proud and in the prime of your life, it was with the utmost dedication and loyalty that you answered the call of duty under the rising sun of Australia alongside thousands of young men to do your bit on the battlefields of the great war, but without fear you took a step forward and after a last farewell between the arms of your mother and your wife, you embarked with enthusiasm and patriotism to make your family and your country proud overseas to protect democracy.With a heart full of will and pushed forward by the ardor of your youth and by a deep will to fight for your convictions, for the highest values, you followed your friends among the poppies behind the bagpipes and the bugles which led the steps of a whole generation of young men on the roads and the fields of Belgium then of the north of France with the hopes that they would live the greatest adventure of their young lives but in the trenches of Ypres and the Somme, they found death and the horrors of a world at war which sank into madness and which, in flames, under poison gas, in mud and blood, drowned the the hearts of men in the despair of an inhuman war whose once green and silent fields turned into fields of death on which millions of young boys killed each other in the fury and chaos of hand-to-hand combat whose results were appalling bloodbaths in which were lost the hopes and dreams of men who wanted to live but who, in this endless nightmare, sacrificed their youth and the best years of their lives with their loved ones in the hell of the trenches in which they tried to survive to see the sun rise again on a world at peace and together, under shells and bullets, they lived day and night with the fear in their stomachs of being killed and forgotten.In this cataclysm that brought them together in unity and camaraderie, they lived and shared the burden of suffering and fear under the terrible mournful symphony of artillery that spat death and destruction on land scarred by miles of barbed wire in which were taken and in which so many men fell under the fire of the machine guns. Among the rats, tormented by hunger and disease, they stood together with their knees deep in the mud and watched over each other and became brothers in arms who shed their blood and their tears side by side in the darkest hours of history and found in each other the strength and the courage to face their destinies and fight for what was right and waited ready and resolute behind their officers who whistles in their hands, would ask them to step forward and climb the wooden ladders to charge under enemy fire and that's what they all did despite their fears and despite the death that awaited them in the shell holes, they went forward in tight lines and guided by the ANZAC spirit, they gave their all beyond bravery, beyond what was asked of them and together they did not back down, they always went further under shrapnel and deluges of bullets, united under the same uniform and gave their all for peace and freedom and many did not have the chance to return home but gave their lives with in their hearts, the pride of having done what was right and found in France, on the sacred grounds of the Somme, silence and peace for which they fell but in which they still stand under the songs of the birds and among the poppies, an eternal shroud of remembrance through which I will always walk with respect and gratitude to honor the memory and the lives of these young men who did so much for my country and over which I would always watch with care and love to perpetuate their memory to bring them back to life so that they never cease to live.Thank you so much Ivan,for everything. At the going down of the sun and in the morning,we will remember him, we will remember them. 

Born 11 January 1884 at Adelaide, SA
Son of Charles Edward CAESAROWICZ and Charlotte nee HEUSNER
Husband of Laura Elizabeth CAESAROWICZ
Of 73 Bakewell Road, Evandale, SA
Resided Unley Park, SA
Occupation prior to enlistment Clerk
Enlisted 04 January 1917 at Adelaide, SA
Served in France
Killed in action 05 April 1918 at Henencourt, France
Aged 34 years
Buried Ribemont Communal Cemetery Extension, Somme I G 10